Biogeography is the cross science of biology and geography to explore the spatial distribution pattern of the organisms (population, community etc.) and the mechanisms that generate and maintain such pattern. For centuries, biologists have studied distribution patterns of plants and animals at different spatial scales. While few similar studies has been carried out for microorganisms in the past due to the limitation of techniques. Considering the significance of soil microorganisms in biogeochemical cycling processes and maintaining ecosystem function, knowledge of the spatial patterns and mechanisms involved in soil microbial distribution is fundamental to develop sound management strategies of the terrestrial ecosystems. Culture-independent molecular techniques now make it possible to explore the microbial diversity more deeply and widely than ever before. As a result, differing from the traditional understanding of the microbial cosmopolitanism, increasing evidence supports the idea that free-living soil microorganisms vary in their abundance, composition and diversity across various taxonomic and spatial scales, which makes soil microbial biogeography a hot research topic in recent years. Here, with discussion to the conceptual frames including the microbial species concept, the quantitative estimation of microbial diversity, and the arguments for microbial cosmopolitanism, we illustrate recent progress in soil microbial biogeography by taking microbial species-area relationship and distance-decay relationship as examples, then initially explore the possible zonal distribution of the soil microbial biota, and develop a simplified theory framework which can be used to examine the mechanisms involved in the generation and maintenance of the soil microbial distribution pattern. This review illustrates significant advances in soil microbial biogeography and proposes perspectives and framework for future research.